Friday, 26 April 2013

The
Winster Valley Brewery brewed their first real ale for the racecourse in 2011.
A light bodied and agile ale, it has wonderful floral tones that make it ideal
for summer drinking. We decided to call it Hurdler. The
following year, the masters of the micro-brewery developed a more mature ale,
rich in colour like a bay horse. It has a strong flavour and supple tones; we
named it Chaser. Now they have brewed us a real treat – a chocolaty ale,
technically known as a “mild”. It is almost black like Sprinter Sacre and its
name is… (drum-roll, fanfare)… Dark Horse. In
racing terminology, a dark horse is a secret waiting to be discovered; unknown
on the track, but which has been ripping up the gallops at home. Having taken
stock of our first delivery this week, I can confirm that the ale is set to
become a firm favourite (if you’ll excuse the obvious pun). Once you have
discovered the secret of the Dark Horse, I am sure that you’ll be galloping
down to the Brown Horse Inn at Winster, where the brewery is based. Incidentally,
they also do a fine lunch. Alternatively, you’ll be able to find it in the
Cartmel Village Shop, Holker Hall and at the racecourse on race-days. Of
course the jockeys can’t drink beer when they’re riding, so we import vast
quantities of bottled water for them to drink throughout the day. But it’s not
just any water, it’s Willow Water and it only travels 2 miles from the source
at Flookburgh. Willow Water contains minute traces of salicin, which it picks
up from deep layers of peat under the ground. The Salicin is believed by some
people to reduce pain and high temperatures, while other minerals in the water
are thought to benefit the skin and reduce wrinkles; all of which answers the
question as to why the jockeys at Cartmel look so young and healthy! Finally,
tips for the weekend. The big race is a 3m5f chase at Sandown, known to almost
everyone as the Whitbread but actually sponsored nowadays by a bookmaker.
Hold On Julio is
exposed in terms of form and has won twice at Sandown before - but in appearance, he really
is a dark horse.

Saturday, 20 April 2013

Everyone
loves a bit of nostalgia. Do you remember when Red Rum won his third Grand
National in 1977? The size of the flairs, the brown ties and long side-burns!

If
you look at photographs of Cartmel in the 1960’s the first thing you’ll notice
is that everyone is wearing a tie – except the ladies of course, they’re all
wearing hats. In the 1950’s all the men are wearing hats too – mainly
broad-brimmed trilbies, except for the stable staff and hound-handlers who are
all wearing flat caps.

At
our first race-meeting of this season, we’ll be travelling down memory lane in
company with the North West Evening Mail who are sponsoring our first ever
Vintage Race-night on Saturday 25th May. Prior to racing there will
be live 1950’s music from the Houndogs and between races visitors can jive to
the sound of our gramophone-DJ.

There will also be £5,000 of diamond jewellery
to be won in the best-dressed competition. A stunning art-deco diamond
necklace has been put up as the top prize by Wave Jewellery, who have
shops in Kendal, Bowness, Lancaster, Manchester and Knightsbridge. All you have
to do is pick a decade, any decade you like, and dress accordingly.

Apart
from the hats and ties, the other really notable thing about old photos of
Cartmel is the vintage cars. Then, as now, loads of racegoers turned up with a
picnic in their car-boot to enjoy next to the rails as the horses whizzed past.
In an effort to replicate some of those nostalgic scenes, we’ll be allowing all
vintage cars to park for free on the night – so if you’ve got an old banger in
the garage or a Silver Shadow Rolls, as long as it is zero-rated for road tax,
you’ll be able to park for nothing. Normal admission charges apply for all
occupants.

We’re
looking forward to a vintage season at Cartmel this year, but I know what
you’re thinking - what about the tip for this weekend’s racing? Well to keep in
with the theme, how about Changing Times in the Future Champions Novices Chase,
the 2.05 at Ayr on Saturday.

Wednesday, 10 April 2013

No, I didn’t manage to back Aurora’s Encore in
the Grand National either. The secret, I find, to being a good loser is not to
mind too much. It helps if you can think of positive reasons why losing is a
good thing. When I started punting I used to console myself
that each loser brought me one step closer to the next winner. This optimism
finally wore off after a particularly long losing streak, when I adopted a new
philosophy – the more I lost, the more someone else was winning – and isn’t
that nice! Fortunately this year’s Grand National provided
lots of reasons for happiness. Firstly, it has been much commented on that no
horse or jockey was injured – but it was better than that. Did you notice that,
despite a few jockeys being unseated, only two horses actually fell during the
whole race? It’s probably a bit too early to assess the real impact of the
changes made to the course and fences, but there was no diminution of the spectacle
and this year’s race was undoubtedly better for being injury free. Secondly, the fact that the bookmakers have
enjoyed a huge windfall is not entirely negative for the sport. Bookmakers
based in Britain are obliged to make a payment to the Horserace Betting Levy
Board which equates to roughly 10% of the gross profits that they enjoy from
horseracing. In 2013 the Levy Board will distribute, in round terms, about £76
million to the racing industry – paying for integrity services at every
racecourse in Britain, research into equine fertility, assistance for a variety
of horse and pony breeds and a contribution to prize money for races from
Cartmel to Kempton. British bookmakers are also taxed by the
Government, at a rate of 15% of their gross profits; so in losing your money you’ve
also contributed towards various essential services such as the police and the
NHS. Give yourself a pat on the back and thank heavens you didn’t back the 66/1
winner of the race! But if you backed a loser with a bookmaker based
overseas – and this will include most telephone or internet betting services,
even if the same firm operates high street betting shops in the UK, all your
losses will have been lost forever. They’ll be no benefits for your local
racecourse and none for your local hospital. If you want to be a good loser, make
sure you bet with a British based bookmaker.

Wednesday, 3 April 2013

The
greatest race in the world takes place at Aintree this week. “So far, so
obvious” I can hear you thinking. But the race I am talking about will not have
40 runners and take place over 30 fences on Saturday, it will have just six
runners and takes place over two and a half miles on Friday. The
Melling Chase may not attract as many headlines as the Grand National but it
looks set to launch a new legend in the lore of horseracing. Sprinter Sacre has
already proven that he is the best two mile chaser of the year and probably the
best for many years. Today though, he might just kindle a flame that will never
be extinguished in the hearts of jump racing fans – by thrashing two of the
best horses currently in training over their best distance of two and a half
miles. The
gelding has been nicknamed the “black aeroplane” by his trainer and his
unbeaten sequence of eight steeplechase wins have been visually impressive,
culminating in the defeat of a previous Champion Chaser in the shape of Sizing
Europe at the Cheltenham Festival last month. In the Melling Chase he will have
to prove that he has the stamina for an additional half mile while tackling Cue
Card and Flemenstar, who have posted the best performances over the distance in
Britain and Ireland respectively this season. Add last year’s Champion Chaser
Finian’s Rainbow into the mix and you have the most compelling race of the
season. Please, please watch it if you can. The
support act for the Melling chase is a little-known four and a half mile
handicap chase on Saturday. If your name is Bob, Harry, Oscar, Bill, Paddy, Al,
Jon or Balthazar you won’t have any trouble finding a horse to back – you’ll
find all these names amongst the runners for the big race. Having
backed Ballabriggs at 33/1 when the weights were announced, I should be quite
content that he is now 20/1 and looks likely to shorten further. But I’ve a
slight concern over the form of the McCain yard and there are a couple more
big-priced contenders that I can’t allow to go un-backed including the Willie
Mullins pair Quiscover Fontaine and Quel Esprit, both at 50/1. Among the more
favoured runners, Imperial Commander (16/1) has plenty of class and an
attractive weight, while Cappa Bleu (12/1) looks the best of the contenders
that ran in the race last year.

About the Author

Jonathan has made a career out of being a racing geek - having spent time running The Sun newspaper's "Punters Club", the (long departed) Sporting Life's Green-card Service, Worcester Racecourse, Fontwell Park, Scottish Racing Marketing Ltd and now the iconic Cartmel Racecourse.

In his spare time he likes to study form and go to the races.

All opinions, recommendations or forecasts, expressed or implied within the blog or website, are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice.

Users are solely responsible for any consequences resulting from acting on information included in the blog or on the website. Neither Jonathan Garratt nor Cartmel Racecourse is in anyway liable for any direct, indirect or consequential loss, damage or expense incurred by readers or users of the blog or website.

Where applicable, independent financial advice should be obtained. Past results are not in any way a guarantee of future success.